Big Brother's Job
by Marie King
Summary: My extended take on the book-ending scenes of Ariel; Lots of Tam Sibling fluff but no Tamcest promise!
1. The Plan

_She needs this, I need this, it's the only way I can do my job as a big brother lately I have been failing miserably at this, but if I succeed then maybe I can truly help her._ Simon thought trying to convince himself to tell River of his plan.

He took a deep breath and without any more hesitation knocked on her bunk door.

River said knowingly "_Nǐ kěnéng huì zài, _Simon."

Simon slid open the door and entered the room.

She was sitting in the middle of the small room her legs curled underneath her a soft pensive expression on her face.

River held out her right hand to him he took it and they sat down on her bed.

Simon put his right arm around her and sighed again.

_She defiantly isn't going to take this well I truly hope she doesn't get too upset. _Simon thought worriedly.

River looked at her brother inquisitively.

Leaning into his embrace she said knowingly "Tell me."

Simon squeezed her gently once.

He replied tentatively "River, I have a plan to help you."

She nodded and whispered quietly _"Jìxù."_

Simon squeezed her once more and explained delicately "We're going to St. Lucy's it's a hospital here, but we'll need to be asleep Captain Reynolds and the others will have to pretend we are dead to get us into the hospital but once we are inside we'll wake up and everything will be okay, do you understand?"

River shook her head up and down once.

She took a breath and replied logically " The sedative you are going to give me will undoubtedly suspend cerebral, cardiac, and pulmonary activity in order to induce a semi-comatose state."

Simon nodded and said a bit taken aback "Yes.. that's right."

Her eyes became wide and she shook her head.

River whispered terrified "Simon, please I don't want too ."

_I dreaded she would act his way I need to convince her that this will work that this going to be worth it._ He thought resolutely.

Simon said assuredly "I know you don't, but it's going to be worthwhile, I promise."

Her head continued to shake slowly, her eyes dilated with terror.

River wailed frighteningly " I don't wanna go to that place I don't wanna die, there is only death in that place Simon only death!"

Simon gathered her to his chest and replied coaxingly " River listen to me, now no one is going to die it's going to be all right, the Captain and the others will take very good care of us while we are asleep and when we wake up we'll-"

He was cut off by his sister's horrified moaning.

By that point River had disentangled herself from his grip and was curled up her hands wrapped tightly around her knees in the far right corner of the bed rocking softly.

She cried terrified "No, no, no, please no, not that place Simon, please not there , we won't come back from that place we won't, please Simon!"

Simon gently reached for his sister.

River continued to rock but after a few seconds her dilated eyes began to clear and, she relented to her brother's offer of comfort and slid over to him.

Once again Simon gathered her to his chest.

He took a breath and replied soothingly "Shh, shh _mèi-mei _, it's okay, it's going to be okay, this, this, could be what we've been hoping for, when all of this is over and done with, I'll finally be able to help you, I'll be able to make the nightmares go away. Okay?"

She nodded slowly and said quietly defeated "All right, I trust you."

Simon sighed and hugged her gently once.

He smoothed her hair and thought relieved _She finally sees that this is safe, thank god! _

Simon stroked her face tenderly and said softly "Okay, now please lie back."

She nodded and did what he said without complaint.

Simon took the hypo needle from his breast pocket along with the alcohol swab.

He swabbed her right forearm Simon took her right hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Simon tapped the hypo needle and began to inject the sedative.

He said warmly "It's time to go to sleep now, don't worry _mèi-mei _everything will be fine."

Simon watched her quickly fall into unconsciousness and waited until she was fully under before he let go of her hand.

_This __**is**__ going to work I don't think I've ever come up with a better plan since I broke her out of the Academy. I just hope I'm able to figure out what was done to her once we get into the 3-D neuro imaging suite. _Simon thought concernedly.

With his sister finally albeit eerily still Simon took a breath and quickly injected himself with the same sedative.

He let unconsciousness and his worries drift over him.

* * *

><p>Mandarin translations<p>

_Nǐ kěnéng huì zài _-Please come in

_Jìxù_- Go on


	2. A Reason To Hope

After narrowly escaping capture in St. Lucy's he was exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally.

_I almost lost her, my whole world, my méi-mei. _Simon thought horrified.

As soon as he could Simon had gone into the infirmary loaded the memory tab into the small computer and began immediately scanning the information.

He discovered that along with stripping River's amygdala, her reflexes were enhanced much more than normal.

The scan also showed deep penetrating scars on her brain, from what he could tell River's brain had been put through the ringer.

He was shocked that his sister was able to survive for as long as she did in the Academy.

_Don't worry méi-mei I'll set everything right again... somehow. _Simon thought determinedly.

Studying the scan closer he turned on his encyclopedia and searched the types of medications that the crew had taken from St. Lucy's.

Along with this he tried to match the drugs they took from the hospital and looked them up one by one to see if any were right for treating mental illness and sleep problems.

Simon quickly came to the conclusion that his treatment of River would have to be trial in error, his medical studies only certified him in trauma he had never thought of studying any other branches of medicine.

He knew that his sister's recovery would be just as slow as his liberation of her from the Academy.

_Oh well nothing else so far as been easy why did I think this would be? _Simon thought sarcastically

He found to his relief that quite a few of the drugs they took treated not only mental illness but also sleep disorders.

He took a breath and began to mix a cocktail of the drugs he found that could be helpful and placed them into a hypo for River.

Simon knew this wasn't a cure but he was certain that the mixture would at least alleviate his sister from her horrible nightmares and give her some stability during the day.

Needle and alcohol swab in hand Simon made his way once again to River's bunk.

He knocked on his sister's door and slid it open.

She was on the floor drawing in a peach satin silk nightgown one of the many hand-me-downs Inara had given to her.

Her raven waved hair was wet and he remembered that Inara had taken her into her shuttle to bathe a few minutes after they had returned from St. Lucy's.

Simon smiled he crouched down near her and asked warmly "Hey, what are you doing?"

River looked up at him once again with inquisitive eyes.

She grinned softly and replied whimsically "Drawing, it seemed like the right activity after all of the _hǔnluàn _today."

Simon sat down across from her and studied her drawing more closely.

It was a exact replica of earth-that-was Russian nesting dolls they were colorful and drawn very well.

He smiled again and said approvingly "That is _dà zhēn_ River, _de hěn bàng_."

She looked up at him again her eyes immediately zoned in on the needle in his right hand.

River asked guarded "What are you doing this evening?"

Simon acknowledged the needle he spun it around slowly in his hands.

Taking a breath he replied softly "Well.. I.. uh brought some medicine with me, do you remember why we were at the hospital?"

River nodded her eyes became clouded with sadness.

She asked stoically "Simon it's time to go to sleep again isn't it?"

Simon took her right hand and held it softly in his own, using his right arm he pulled her into a warm and comforting hug.

She curled in on him and whispered softly "We almost went away today, away from the crew, away from _Serenity." _

Simon squeezed her and said reassuringly "I know _méi-mei, _but we didn't the Captain and Jayne unbelievably kept us safe."

He gently released her but held onto her right hand.

Swabbing her right forearm he prepped the needle.

Simon looked at River and replied resolutely "It's finally time for you wake up, _méi-mei_ ."

With that he injected the medicine he hoped would give his sister some relief.

The drugs began to take instantaneous effect Simon saw her eyelids begin to droop.

Before she fell asleep River whispered softly "Stay with me."

Simon smiled and said lovingly "Of course _méi-mei, _I'll stay for as long as you want."

Drowsily River climbed into her bed and Simon made sure she didn't fall.

He tucked her in and caressed her right hand as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

_I never thought I would feel hopeful but seeing her like this I am. _Simon thought optimistically.

Simon continued to watch his sister sleep.

He was astounded when two hours passed and she didn't awaken screaming form a nightmare as was the norm when he administrated a normal sleeping smoother.

After two more hours went by Simon was confident he could leave.

Delicately as possible he slid his hand out of his sisters and quietly left her bunk.

However that didn't mean the next day he wouldn't worry about her.

He was her big brother and that was his job to worry and take care of her.

_Now I finally feel that after today I am really and truly doing that job right. _He thought happily.

For the first time in a long while Simon was able to sleep his thoughts clear of anxiety.

* * *

><p>Mandarin Translations<p>

_Hǔnluàn- _Chaos

_Dà zhēn, de hěn bàng- _Great, really great


End file.
